Forecast: BULLISH The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates 3 times in 2018. The first hike is scheduled for March. The most important factor that the markets will be paying attention to is whether core inflation starts to push higher. As US unemployment drops to record lows of 4.1%. Wages are expected to… Read More

Forecast: NEUTRAL For the first time in 10 years, the Bank of England raised interest rates. This was due inflation reaching 3.1%. The high inflation wasn’t so much due to a healthy economy producing positive data. It was more down to the depreciation of the GBP after Brexit. The GBP lost 20% of its value… Read More

Forecast: BULLISH The European Central Bank is expected to completely withdraw from its quantitive easing bond purchasing programme in September. The EUR has been strong throughout 2017 due to economic data confirming the central bank’s quantitative easing programme pushed inflation back towards their 2% target and has also improved unemployment. The unemployment rate has fallen… Read More

Forecast: BULLISH The Bank of Canada hiked interest rates twice in the first half of 2017 which caused the Canadian Dollar to be very bullish throughout the year. Canada has now recovered from the oil crises in 2014 which saw oil prices drop from $114 per barrel to $26 per barrel. The Bank of Canada… Read More

Forecast: BULLISH The Reserve Bank of Australia has said that their forward looking indicators suggest the market should prepare for higher interest rates moving forward. Australia enjoyed strong employment data in 2017 and it is expected to continue in 2018. The labour market is continuing to put more people into work which will cause inflation… Read More

Forecast: BULLISH The New Zealand economy performed relatively well in 2017. Inflation is currently at 1.9% which is close to the central bank’s 2% target. The bank’s forward looking indicators suggest the economy will continue to perform well in 2018 and also suggest an interest rate hike in 2019. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has… Read More

Forecast: BEARISH Inflation in Japan is currently at 0.8%. The Bank of Japan is struggling to meet its 2% target and are now injecting 80 trillion YEN a year into the economy in an attempt to push inflation up to their 2% target. The Bank of Japan forecasts that inflation will reach 2% by 2019.… Read More

Forecast: BEARISH Inflation in Switzerland is currently at 0.8% and the Swiss National Bank is struggling to meet their 2% target. It is predicted that this target will not be met until 2020. With inflation and interest rates so low, CHF will not be an attractive long term investment. However, other economic data could produce… Read More